Today I am filled with a distracting amount of thoughts and feelings in regard to the COVID pandemic we continue to face. The announcement of vaccine passports for non-essential services and the return to a mask mandate for public spaces is proving a real challenge for me to accept … causing me to examine where my faith intersects with my daily life …
Read MoreThe call of God to “give thanks in all circumstances” baffles me in light of all these things going on around us, but there is also such a sense of peace and rest within thanksgiving. When we release our cares to God, when we trust Him instead of worrying, when we live prayerfully, we find the peace of God.
Read MoreBalaam was a prophet - not always a good prophet, but one that did hear from the Lord. In this story, he was hearing from the Lord and yet missed the angel of the Lord each of the three times it stood in front of him. His donkey sure noticed, and literally took a beating for it. It took a talking donkey to open Balaam’s eyes.
Read MoreOne of the practices I am learning is to celebrate the seemingly small things in life - such as Chocolate Chip Cookie Day (by coming to the church office for cookies today), finishing a painting job yesterday, and being able to have a hot dog roast with friends. Too often we treat these as insignificant everyday things that are no big deal, but, when we take pleasure and choose to be thankful within what seems small, we not only feel good but are more apt to see God at work.
Read MoreMany acts of service require mercy … giving to those who may not deserve it … I think of nurses who are often given a hard time, having to face complaints and negativity, and yet they continue to mercifully serve their patients.
Read More… each day we are called to live “by faith” - to truly believe that God is present and working in the everyday of our lives, to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in the details of daily life, to step out of our comfort zones so God can work in and through us, to represent Him no matter the situation we are in.
Read MoreMCC - Relief, Development, and Peace in the Name of Christ
Read MoreHow do we do this? How can we experience the fullness of our salvation? This first letter to the Corinthians is all about this - as is the whole of the New Testament. We do seek a partial experience, but to get the full experiences requires commitment.
Read MoreSo often I encounter people who are either lacking joy (doing nothing to find it) or seeking it through what they do and what they have. But both of these approaches fail us! Joy does not come to those who do nothing to find it, but it is also not found merely in the pleasures and blessings of this life.
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